UAE-based Lulu Group International has opened its sixth hypermarket at Dammam in Saudi Arabia, taking its total outlets in the region to 121.

The latest hypermarket was officially inaugurated today by Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz on. The occasion was graced by Engineer Abdullah Al Ahamed, president of Dammam Municipality and several high ranking officials from various government departments, representatives from local business community and prominent citizens.

Located on Prince Mohamed bin Fahad Road in Dammam, the new hypermarket provides a one-stop shopping destination for the growing city dwellers, which include a growing community of nationals and expatriates. The hypermarket also houses Sparky’s family entertainment centre, food court consisting of authentic Arabic fine dining, Arabic and Filipino cuisine and cafés, pharmacy, ATM and money exchange.

Speaking at the inauguration, Lulu group chairman Yusuffali MA announced the proposed launch of four more hypermarkets this year. “In 2017 we will open another six hypermarkets in the Kingdom including Makkah and Madinah.”

Revealing his investment plans, Yusuffali adds, “We have already invested more than SAR800 million till now and intend to further invest SAR700 million by the end of 2017, taking our total investment to more than SAR1.5 billion in the Kingdom.”

“We are very confident that this great country will further prosper under the visionary leadership of HRH King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince Muhamed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud & Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The support and love extended by the rulers gives us further impetus to serve the growing economy of this country. Lulu is committed to do its bit to help the Kingdom by opening more outlets, thereby generating employment opportunities to talented Saudis. The opening of the hypermarket in Dammam underscores our increasing presence in the region and our commitment to serve one of the growing and important markets in Saudi Arabia,” he says.

“We have always believed that it’s our duty to nurture the local talent and currently there are more than 1,500 Saudis who work with us and our goal is to provide employment to 5,000 Saudi nationals by the end of 2017,” Yusuffali affirms. Currently Lulu has more than 30% Saudi nationals in their workforce and provides best quality training to absorb them in various managerial and specialised sections.